Syria keeping military 10 km away from Turkish border, report says

The Syrian administration has told its military to keep aircraft at least 10 kilometers away from the Turkish border and to avoid artillery fire near the border one day after the Turkish government received a mandate from Parliament for military operations in foreign countries, a news report said on Friday.

Turkey's ntvmsnbc.com news portal claimed, citing “reliable sources,” that the Syrian regime had ordered all kinds of military aircraft, including warplanes and helicopters, to stay at least 10 kilometers from the Turkish border. The report also said a number of Syrian warplanes which approached within 10 kilometers of the Turkish border despite this warning had been ordered to turn back immediately by Syrian authorities.

Turkish artillery bombarded Syrian military targets for a second day on Thursday, responding to the mortar fire that killed five people the day before in the southeastern town of Akçakale.

The salvoes reportedly killed several Syrian soldiers, and Turkey's Parliament stepped up pressure on the political front by authorizing cross-border military action in the event of further aggression.

According to ntvmsnbc's report, Syria had ascertained that the Turkish artillery fire had killed 10 Syrian soldiers and damaged three tanks and two armored vehicles.